A US Marine hailing from California was identified by military officials as one of four people killed when a plane contracted by the US military crashed in a rice field in the southern Philippines.
Sgt Jacob Durham, 22, of Long Beach, died Thursday in the crash of an aircraft that was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,” officials at Camp Pendleton, California, said in a statement released on Sunday.
Officials said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
Three defence contractors also were killed in the crash, military officials have said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines confirmed the crash of a light plane in Maguindanao del Sur province.
The bodies of the four people were retrieved from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, said Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer of Maguindanao del Sur.
US forces have been deployed in a Philippine military camp in the country’s south for decades to help provide training and advice to Filipino forces battling militants.
Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster-mitigation officer, said on Thursday that she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground near a cluster of farmhouses.
Durham was trained as an electronic intelligence/electromagnetic warfare analyst assigned to 1st Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, officials said. He joined the Marines in January 2021.
Durham’s awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, a Meritorious Mast, and Naval Aircrew Insignia, officials said.
“Sgt Durham embodied the highest traditions of the Marine Corps – exemplifying composure, intelligence, and selfless leadership,” Lt Col Mabel B. Annunziata, commanding officer of 1st Radio Battalion, said in the statement. — AP
